The GAA, the amateur organisation with the professional attitude. The time for having a fag while you were getting your half time team talk is long behind us. Not only will you be kept away from the pub the night before a match, you might be kept away from it for six months at a time. It’s not a game anymore, it’s a lifestyle. Follow any county player on twitter, Instagram or snapchat and you’ll see posts about meal prep, gym programs etc.

But what’s next for this, the first generation of players who have been robbed of the social side of the game. Once upon a time, teams were built around a camaraderie that was found on bar stools rather than in training camps. The game thrived then, why couldn’t it be the same now?

Alienation is the answer. There are more and more people shipping out every summer on J1 visas or just going on an extended holiday and not giving a second thought to the GAA. Why? They don’t want to give that commitment to a hobby. Name any other hobby people have that will rip into your personal life as much as the GAA attacks the lifestyle of the county players. Even the Irish footballers were allowed a few drinks post beating Italy in the group stage.

Teams around the country are having to deal with the dreaded J1 because the interest just doesn’t exist anymore. I’ve seen plenty of hurlers on the ditch muttering and whinging about the younger players today and their bad attitudes and sense of entitlement. I’ve seen people giving out that good players would rather leave him for college rather than get a similar course in their own back garden so they could train during the week.

What this older generation don’t see is that even the club hurlers are being forced to train up to 5 times a week. Three sessions out on the grass and squeeze in two gym sessions in their own time. There was none of that in the past, there was none of that even as far back as 15 years ago. The county hurlers are not amateur sportsmen anymore, they are professional and the more it progresses, the more the demand for compensation will be introduced.

Expenses exist, players will be covered for travelling, they’re clothed and fed every night but that only adds to the amount of time that they spend away from home every day. That could cause issues in its own way. The money exists to be able to properly compensate players. If club teams are able to pay five figures to a manager to come and train them, I’m sure a whole county with the backing of Croke Park be able to pay a living wage to their players.

The game is going forward into the 21st century and becoming a more world wide phenomenon with every passing day. It’s time the people in charge realised it.

Now that the holidays have finished, and everything is slowly returning to its usual routine. It... more»

What Next The County Player?

July 23, 2016 (No Comments) by theSharpeUser

The GAA, the amateur organisation with the professional attitude. The time for having a fag while you were getting your half time team talk is long behind us. Not only will you be kept away from the pub the night before a match, you might be kept away from it for six months at a time. It’s not a game anymore, it’s a lifestyle. Follow any county player on twitter, Instagram or snapchat and you’ll see posts about meal prep, gym programs etc.

But what’s next for this, the first generation of players who have been robbed of the social side of the game. Once upon a time, teams were built around a camaraderie that was found on bar stools rather than in training camps. The game thrived then, why couldn’t it be the same now?

Alienation is the answer. There are more and more people shipping out every summer on J1 visas or just going on an extended holiday and not giving a second thought to the GAA. Why? They don’t want to give that commitment to a hobby. Name any other hobby people have that will rip into your personal life as much as the GAA attacks the lifestyle of the county players. Even the Irish footballers were allowed a few drinks post beating Italy in the group stage.

Teams around the country are having to deal with the dreaded J1 because the interest just doesn’t exist anymore. I’ve seen plenty of hurlers on the ditch muttering and whinging about the younger players today and their bad attitudes and sense of entitlement. I’ve seen people giving out that good players would rather leave him for college rather than get a similar course in their own back garden so they could train during the week.

What this older generation don’t see is that even the club hurlers are being forced to train up to 5 times a week. Three sessions out on the grass and squeeze in two gym sessions in their own time. There was none of that in the past, there was none of that even as far back as 15 years ago. The county hurlers are not amateur sportsmen anymore, they are professional and the more it progresses, the more the demand for compensation will be introduced.

Expenses exist, players will be covered for travelling, they’re clothed and fed every night but that only adds to the amount of time that they spend away from home every day. That could cause issues in its own way. The money exists to be able to properly compensate players. If club teams are able to pay five figures to a manager to come and train them, I’m sure a whole county with the backing of Croke Park be able to pay a living wage to their players.

The game is going forward into the 21st century and becoming a more world wide phenomenon with every passing day. It’s time the people in charge realised it.